Morning All!
A short trading session to finish out the year is set to open modestly lower after a stellar late 9 day Santa rally which has seen a near 400 point bounce off a double bottom for the XJO.
March SPI futures down 14 points at 5276
European stock markets fell on Wednesday as weak commodity prices hit the shares of mining and energy companies.
Online supermarket group Ocado also underperformed, with its shares sliding 3.3 percent on concerns over growing competition from a rival service at Amazon.
The euro zone's blue-chip Euro STOXX 50 index fell 0.8 percent, surrendering ground after rising in the previous session.
Britain's FTSE 100 index of leading shares fell 0.6 percent while Germany's DAX was down 1.1 percent.
"The ongoing weakness in the oil price is dragging down the markets," said John Plassard, senior equity sales executive at Mirabaud Securities.
Wall Street was lower, led by declines in energy shares and Apple Inc
The S&P energy sector was the poorest performer among the 10 major sectors, down 1.16 percent after forecasts of a short winter in North America and Europe piled pressure on the oversupplied commodity.
Shares of Exxon lost 1.28 percent while Chevron dipped 1.14 percent.
Apple, the most valuable public U.S. company, exerted the biggest drag on the S&P, falling 0.8 percent en route to what will be its first down year since 2008.
"I just don't see any upside leadership," said Donald Selkin, chief market strategist at National Securities in New York. "I'd be happy if we ended the year right here."
S&P -.75%
Nasdaq -.8%
Brent crude slid back towards 11-year lows as US stockpiles swelled and Saudi Arabia reiterated a commitment to keep pumping oil.
US crude futures slumped more than 3 per cent as US Energy Information Administration data showed stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma hub hitting record levels.
"In all the years I have been doing this, I have never seen builds in the last week of December," said Tariq Zahir, trader at Tyche Capital Advisors in New York. "At least for tax consequence reasons, refiners always ramp up runs at the year-end, and there's a draw. This is a first for me."
Crude prices have plunged by two-thirds since mid-2014 as soaring output from the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and the United States created a global surplus of between half a million and 2 million barrels per day. Slowing demand growth, particularly in Asia, has also weighed on prices.
Oil $36.73 -$1.14
Copper climbed for a second day, trading near a six-week high, on speculation that production cuts in China will help reduce a supply glut.
Nine of the biggest copper producers have agreed to cut sales by 200,000 metric tons in the first three months of 2016, people with knowledge of the matter said Tuesday. The same group had already pledged to pare output next year. Copper is on its way to a third straight annual decline, the longest slump since 1998, amid faltering demand in China, the world's biggest user.
"The promise of a 200,000-ton cut in the first quarter of 2016 is helping to keep copper firm in thin year-end trading conditions," Tai Wong, the director of commodity products trading at BMO Capital Markets in New York, said in a telephone interview. "These cuts suggest that producers may further adjust supply in the face of weak pricing and low demand."
Prices are up 4.5 per cent in December, heading for the first monthly increase since September.
Trading on Wednesday was 58 per cent below the 100-day average for this time, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
On the London Metal Exchange, copper for delivery in three months rose 0.1 per cent to $US4733 a ton ($US2.15 a pound).
Lead and zinc also advanced in London, while aluminum, nickel and tin declined.
Zinc climbed 1.7 per cent to $US1632 a tonne, a one-month high.
"Zinc seems to have found a floor at $US1500 and maybe people are starting to believe the idea of tighter supplies next year," another trader said.
Aluminium fell 0.5 per cent to $US1528 a tonne, nickel lost 0.6 per cent to $US8700 and tin ceded 0.3 per cent to $US14,650.
Gold futures were knocked down to nearly a two-week low Wednesday by moves in outside markets, as crude oil futures fell sharply while the U.S. dollar rose.
“Overall, the weakness in gold all year is associated with the stronger dollar,” said Ralph Preston, principal with Heritage West Financial.
He added that there is some end-of-year book squaring occurring in the gold market. Preston also suggested not reading too much into the move, however, since it is occurring in exceptionally light volume when markets are thinned by the Christmas and New Year holidays.
Gold $1060
HUI -1.8%
AUD Gold $1455
AUD .7289
BHP ADR -1.2%
Have a Happy and Safe New Year All
thank you for kind support following the critical Highlandlad retirement
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- Day Trading 31 Dec Pre Market
Morning All! A short trading session to finish out the year is...
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